Drying-machine.



L. J. BLACK.

DRYING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 10,1912.

1,055,125. Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

L. J. BLACK.

DRYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY10,1912.

1,055,125, Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

avwento'o L. J. BLACK.

DRYING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, 1012.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

wwneooeo Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

' L. J. BLACK.

DRYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, 1912.

Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Elvweukoz lee JBZQCZ' m N Hm h Ji 474 I LEE J'. BLACK, OF BEAUMONT,TEXAS.

DRYING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters- Patent.

Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

Application filed July 10, 1912. Serial No. 708,542.

To all it may concern Be it known that'I, LEE J. BLACK, a citl- 'zen' ofthe United States, residing at Beaumont, in the county of Jefferson andState of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements. inDrying-Machines; and I do eclare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which, it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to driers and more especially to those having ahorizontal rotating cylinder; and the object of the same is to produce amachine for drying and heating crushed stone, sand, clay, ore, or anyproduct which requires extreme caution on account of its liability ofbeing burned in the process of drying and heatm such as bituminous rockor a mixture 0 rock, sand, and asphalt.

The object of the invention is to improve the construction of a machineof this character, to which end it consists in the details hereinaftermore fully set forth and claimed and as shown in the drawings Figure 1is a side elevation of this machine complete; and Fig. 2 a centrallongitudinalsection through the same, with its trucksin side elevation;Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 33 of Fig". 1. Fig. 4 is anenlarged rear end elevation with the heater in section; Figs. 5 and 6are cross sections on the lines5-5 and 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Mounted on any suitable supportsuch as the trucks 1 and 2 is a basecomprising arallel. sills 4 carrying the necessary cross cams orsupports for the instrumentalities hereinafter described. By preferenceI support said sills on a bolster 3 over the rear truck'and an adjustingmechanism of any suitable type over the front truck, herein shown inFig, 3 as consisting of oppositely threadedscrews 5 depending fromthe-sills 4 through nuts 6 constituting the hubs of beveled gears 7,which are connected by a cross shaft 8 having beveled gears 9 at itsextremities, and this shaft may be turned in either direction by anysuitable means such as the application of a wrench to the squaredportion 10. This adjusting mechanism may be replaced by any other, or

'might be omitted entirely, but when used as herein specificallyillustrated, it serves to adjust the base and the instrumentalitiescarried thereby, so that the main cylinder shall incline a littleto therear of the machme for a purpose to be set forth below.

However, if this improveddrier is mounted ona fixed support, thebearings for said cylinder will be so disposed that it will incline asmentioned, and then of course .the trucks and the adjusting mechanismwill be dispensed with.

Mounted in bearings 11 and 12 carried by the base is a tubular shaft 13which is plugged at 14 and 15 near its front and rear ends respectivelyand perforated at 16 just outsidesald lugs and through hubs 17surrounding the s aft where it is perforated lead tubular spokes 18(four in each group are shown) w ose outer ends ass through the innershell 19 of the cylin er. The latter is composed of said inner shell andan outer shell 20 spaced therefrom by rings 21 located at intervals, andeach ring is perforatedv as at 22 to allow the free passage of heatthrough the annular jacket thus formed between the two shells. tremitiesof the latter are connected by solid rings 23 and bolts 24, and .thebolts at the front enga e and hold in place a head 25 which is piercedwith a central opening 26 The exaround and larger than the shaft.- The'rear head 27 is a cast-iron hood fixedly.

mounted on the .base as by being supported on cross beams 28 restin onthe sills 4, and this hood has an annu ar flange 29 surrounding the rearend of the outer shell and a central opening 30 through which the shaft13 asses. It is also provided below this openlng with another opening31, in which is secured a delivery spout 32 out of which the heatedmaterial falls and from whiclnit maybe delivered into a suitablereceptacle or possibly onto the pavement or to the place of use in casethe machine is mounted on trucks as illustrated.

The agitating mechanism comprises a number of series of spiral wings o-rflukes thereof, carry it around within the inner shell to a point whereit drops ofl each wing and again falls to the bottom thereof, andmeanwhile feed it toward the rear or delivery end of the cylinder byreason of the inclination of the latter and the spiral dis position ofthe wings. The agitatlng mechanism furthermore includes a series ofcross paddles 37 bolted as at 38 to the inner shell, and by preferencedisposed adjacent the inner end of the wings of each series abovedescribed; and'their function is to break up the substance being heatedor dried and prevent it from balling while in a moist state, as it iswell known that any substance of a sticky nature that is rolled with acircular 4 motion will form into balls or clods which prevent the heatfrom penetrating to the center of the same. I The agitating mechanismmight be said to further include the radial spokes 18 which connect theshaft 13 with the inner shell and which of necessity revolve with saidshaft and cylinder. With these exceptions the interior of the latter isfree fort-he passage .of the material from the inlet to the outlet endthereof. The material of which the cylinder is composed is i preferablysheet iron, with metal tubin for the shaft and spokes, but the nature 0the; material and the size and exact proportions of parts areimmaterial, and changes in the; details of this machine throughout allits parts may be made so long as the-spirit of the invention isretained. If the length of; the cylinder is sufficient, it may be wiseto surround it by heavy bands'or' ways 40 resting on grooved rollers 41-suitably supported on the base, and this detail will support thecylinder between its extremities or between the hubs 17 where it issupported on the shaft and will additionally brace the outer shell byreason of the surrounding ways.

The feed mechanism best seen in Fig. 3

'- comprises a hopper '44 whose spout 45 is directed through the inletopening 26 in the front head25 as seen in Fig. 2, and within this spoutthe rotating shaft 13 preferably carries a worm 46 so that the materialwithin the spout is forced through thefopening and into the front end ofthe cylinder. The feed mechanism might be said also to in clude anelevator best seen in Fig, 8, herein shown as consisting of buckets 47mounted on an endless chain 48 which moves over sprockets 49' at itsupper and lower ends,

the uppermost sprocket'having a sprocket gear 50 on its shaft connectedby a belt 51 with another sprocket gear 52 which is driven in a manneryet to be described; The

lower-most sprocket 49 and the lower end of the chain are properlysupported to cause the buckets to dip into a trough 53 into which thematerial to be treated may be dumped, or shoveled, and the uppermostsprocket .is properlysupported to cause the buckets to. deliver saidmaterial from the trough into the hopper 44, whence it is carried intothe inlet end of the cylinder in a.

-- manner described above. However, I do ,not

wish to be limited to the'use of this form of scribed herein simply forpurposes of illustration. g M755 is designated a steam engine driven bysteam generated in a boiler 56, and. the

engine causesthe rotation of a shaft 57 on which the sprocket gear 52may be mounted so that the rotation of this shaft drivesthe elevatorjust described. Said shaft also carbe any that w ries a power gear 58meshing with a toothed ring 59"surrounding the cylinder near its frontend, and hence the rotation of the power shaft-causes the rotation ofthe cylinder. It is obvious that the connection between the power shaftand the elevator and cylinder might be through other means, poss blythrough clutches so that these instrumentalities could be rotatedindependently of each other: However, as these details form no part ofthe present invention, they are not illustrated herewith. I might alsoadd that, if desired, suitable power mechanism could be employed toraise or lower the front end of the cylinder in a manner set forthabove; but as the adjustment thereof will be but little and will occurbut seldom, 1

prefer that it shall be done by hand through the attachment of someratchet mechanism to the squared portion 10 shown in Fig. 3.

The drying or heatingmechanism or sys-. tem, which might be said to formthe gistof the present invention, will now be described: Mounted on oneend of the cross beams 28 at the rear of the sill or base is a fuelreservoir, herein shown as a tank 60 containing oil.

Mounted on the other ends of said beams is a an upright heater 61,herein" shown as provided with an oil burner 62 to which the fuel is ledfrom said tank through a pipe 63 as best seen in Fig. 4, and the heateralso bein provided with a hot air outlet flue 64 lea ing through therear head of the cylinder as' shown at 65" in Fig. 2. Thus when oil isadmitted from the tank 60 through the ipe 63' to the burner 62, the airadmitted t rough the bottom of the heater is heated and passed outthrough the flue 64 into the cylinder at the point 65. Herein it isforced through the mass of tumbling material, and

it finds its exit through the inlet opening 26,

along the spout 45 and upward out the hopper 44. The heating system'maybe said also to comprise the arrangement and circulation of the steam inso far as it is employed to create a draft of the hot air and tocirculate within the steam jacket above described. In the arrangementillustrated in the drawings herewith, the course of the steam throughproper pipes is from the boiler 56 at the point 70, through a valve 71and along a pipe 72 into the heater 61 at the point 73,

-thence through a coil 74 located within the heater above the burner 62,thence outward through the shell of the heater at the oint 75 and backthrough a pipe 76 to the out of the machine where it is led into thefront end of the shaft 13 through a suitable stuffing box 77. By thisarrangement the temperature of the steam is brought up to a point ofapproximately nine hundred degrees F. where 'it enters the shaft. In thelatter it asses out the openings 16, through the tubu ar spokes 18,andinto the jacket between the two shells formin the body of thecylinder; and within the acket it goes to the rear through theperforations 22 in the rings 21 and heats the entire cylinder;

directed along the center of the inlet flue 65;

whereas the lower arm of the T-couplin 80 connects with a pipe 84 bmeans of w ich the steam is again led bac to the front end of themachine, and through a valve 85 into vthe steam chest of the engine 55,and after being used therein it is exhausted into the air at the point86. It will be observed that this system of piping the steam causes thesame to be super-heated within the heater which for convenience I havelocated at the rear part of the machine, then the steam is used to heatthe steam jacket surrounding the cylinder, then the steam brancheswithin the T-coupling 80 and part of it is used as a jet to createsuction on the air which has been heated within the cylinder and toforce said air throughout the length of the inner shell to dry and heatthe material therein, and finally the remainder of the steam passingthrough the Tcoupling 80 is led back to the engine and utilized to causethe rotation of the cylinder and to do other work if desired' With theunderstanding, however, that I do not wish to be confined to the recisedetails of construction, it will be c car that the power shaft might berotated by some other form of engine, as for instance one driven bygasolene. The gist of the invention lies in the fact that I utilize theflow of steam through the jacket to heat the cylinder, and then jet itinto the air inlet pipe both to create a draft within the air and a flowof the I latter through the cylinder, and to moisten the air because itis well known that steam will smother a flame without destroying theheat, and it might be possible that some of the particles in thesubstance being heated or roasted would become so hot as to ignite. Mysystem, therefore, essentially uses the steam for three purposes (toheat the cylinder, jet the air, and smother fire), and lIlCldentally maybe used for a fourth urpose which is to drive the engine whichdmves themachinery. My system also uses the heater for two purposes, viz: heatinthe air which is to be jetted into the cylinder, and superheating thesteam. My system therefore 80, uses both the steam and the air inconjunction with each other for a variety of purposes, all tending tothe same end which is as stated at the beginning of this specific'a-jtion. 5

What is claimed as new is 1. In a drying machine, the combination with asubstantially horizontal rotary cylinderncomprising concentric shellswith aspace between them and mounted on a tubu- 5 lar shaft, andprovided with an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other; of seriesof tubular spokes connecting said shaft and space near both ends of thecylinder, a plug within the shaft between the series, means for feedinga hot fluid agent into oneend of the shaf, along said space, and out theother end of the shaft, and means for simultaneously feeding hot airinto the outlet end of the cylinder, throughout the length 100 of itsinner shell, and out the inlet end thereof. j V

2. In a drying machine, the combination ,with a substantially horizontalrotary cylinder comprising concentric shells with a space bet-ween themand mounted on a tubular shaft, and provided with an inlet at one endand an outlet at the other; of series of tubular spokes connecting saidshaft and space near both ends of the cylinder, plugs within the shaftbetween the series, means for feeding super-heated steam into one end ofthe shaft, throughout the length of the space, and out the other end ofthe shaft, means for feeding hot air into the rear end of the innershell, throughout its length, and out its front end, and connectionsbetween the outlet end of the shaft and the inlet end of the air-feedfor carrying a portion of the steam from the former to the latter andjetting it into the inner shell along with the air.

3. In a drier, the combination with a substantiallyhorizontal rotarycylinder having a jacket throughout its length, a front head fixedtherein and provided with a central opening, a stationary rear headrovided with an outlet and another opening, and feed mechanism fordelivering the material to be treated through the opening in the fronthead; of an air heater, a fine connecting it with said opening intherear" head offthe cylinder, means for feeding steam throughout thelength of said jacket, and connections between the jacket and theopening in the rear head for conveying the steam from the former to thelatter and jetting it into the cylinder along with the hot air. I

4r. In a drier, the combination with a substantiallv horizontal rotarycylinder having a'jacket throughout its length, a front head fixedtherein: and p'rovided'with an inlet opening, a stationary rear headprovided with an outlet opening, and feed mechanism for. delivering thematerial to be treated through the inlet opening in the front head;

of an air heater, a flue connecting it withthe rear opening in saidcylinder, a coil I [along with the hot air.

within the'heater, a steam generator ,connected with one end of thecoil, connections between the other end thereof and one end "of saidjacket, and connections between'the other end ofsaid jacket and the rearopen- 'ing in the cylinder whereby the superheated steam is conveyedfrom the' former into the latter and jetted into the cylinder 7 5. In adrier, the combination with a substantially horizontal rotary cylindercomprising shells with a space between them, a tubular shaft, two seriesof tubular spokes connecting the shaft with said space near theextremities of the cylinder, and plugs in the shaft between said series;of bearings for the ends of the shaft, stufling boxes in said ends, aheater, a flue leadingtherefrom into the'rear end ofthe inner s'hell, acoil within the' heater, a boiler, an engine, a pipe leading from theboiler'to said coil, a pipe leading from the coil through said stuffingbox at the front end of the shaft, apipe leading through the stuflingbox at the other end thereof and branched, a pipe leading from onebranch thereof to said engine, a

- pipe leading from the other branch thereof, and a jet on the extremityof this pipe for conveying steam along with the hot air into "theinterior of the inner shell.

- from into the near end of the inner shell,

a coil within the heater, a boiler, an engine,

a pipejleading from the boiler to said coil,- a

pipe leading from the other end of thecoil through said stuffing boxat'the front end 'of the shaft, a pipe leading. through the,

stuffing box at the other end thereof and the inner' shell.

branched, a pipe leading from one branch thereof to said engine, a pipeleading fromthe other branch thereof, a jet on the extremity of thispipe for conveying steam along with the hot air into the interioraof theinner shell, connections between the engine and the cylinder forrotating the latter, and feed mechanism comprising a hopper whose spoutdeliversinto the front end of the cylinder, a trough, and an elevatorconveying the material from the trough to the-hopper and driven bysaid.engine.-'

7 In-a drier, a cylinder comprising concentric spaced fshells, ringsbetween them" having perforations throu h their bodies,

solid rings bolted between t e extremities of saidshells, a front headhaving a central opening anda radial flange engaged by the bolts of. thefront ring, a non-rotary rear head havinga flange inclosing the rear endof the outer shell, and a shaft extending as. I

loosely through both heads and having series of spokes'connected'withthe inner shell near the extremities of the cylinder; combined withmeans for-directing a blast of hot,fluid agent through the space betweenJ said shells, and means for-directing a blast of hot fluid agentthroughout the'length of 8. In a' drier, a cylinder comprisingconcentric spaced shells, rings between them having perforations throughtheir bodies, solid rings bolted between the extremities of said shells,a front head having a central opening and a radial flange engaged by thebolts of the front ring, a non-rotary rear head having a flangeinclosing the rear end of the outer. shell, a tubular shaft extendingloosely through both heads and mounted in bearings, the shaft havingperforation's' near said heads, plugs within the shaft between,

said perforations, hubs fixed around the of tubular spokes connectingeach hub with the inner shell and establishing communication betweenone'set of perforations inthe shaft and the space between the shells;combined with means for feeding a hot fluid shaft outside saidperforations, and a series agent into one end of the shaft, throughoutthe length of the jacket, and out the other end of the shaft, andmcans'for feeding a blast of hot fluid agent throughout the length ofthe inner shell outside of said shaft. I I f 9. In a drier of the classdescribed, the

cylinder having concentric shells with an annular space between them, afront head fixed within the inner shell and having a central opening, ashaft journaled in bearcombination with a substantially horizontal ings,hubs on the shaft, and series of spokes radiating from said hubs to theinner' shell;

of a feed hopper having a spout extended through said opening in 'saidhead, a-worm on the shaft within said spout, a non-rotary rear headhaving a flan e loosely surrounding the rear end of t e outer shell andpierced with an opening for said shaft and an outlet opening beneath it,means for directing a blast of hot fluid agent throughout the length ofsaid space, and means for directing a blast of hot fluid agentthroughout the length of the interior shell.

10. In an agitating mechanism for a drier of the class described, thecombination with a substantially horizontal rotary cylinder having aninlet at its front end and an outlet at its rear end, and means forfeeding the material to be treated into the inlet oof said cylinder; ofa shaft extending throughout the axis of said cylinder, series of radialspokes connecting said shaft and cylinder, means for feeding a blast ofhot fluid agent throughout the length of the latter, two series ofspiral wings secured within the cylinder respectively neat the endsthereof and disposed so as tofeed the material from the inlet toward theoutlet, and two series of cross paddles fixed within the cylinderbetween said series of wings, for the purpose set forth.

11. In an agitating mechanism, the combination with a substantiallyhorizontal rotary cylinder, and means for feeding the material to betreated into its front end; of means for rotating said cylinder, meansfor directing a blast of hot fluid agent throughout the length of itsinterior, two series of spiral wings secured within the cylinderrespectively near theends thereof, and cross paddles fixed within thecylinder between said series of wings, for the purpose set forth.

In testimonywhereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

LEE J. BL'ACK.

Witnesses:

CARR P. COLLINS, JOHN L. BAKER.

. Copies of this patent may be obtained for live cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of ratents, Washington, D. 0.

